Without Craft Beer

Without craft beer... I drink Scotch or tequila

 

Assuming such types of beers as those you listed were actually being imported to the US in the late 1970-early 1980s, I think you may be underestimating the difficulty and expense of securing the type of beers you've listed as examples. Suppose you were to drive from Plymouth to Aberdeen, you'd travel a bit over 600 miles, one-way. Further suppose that one of your mates, just returned to Plymouth from Aberdeen, told you that when he was there yesterday one could have a fresh pint of some fancy imported US beer that you'd never tasted and that was a great example of a style you'd never heard of, would you drive (or fly) that far to get it? Especially if you also thought you would have to pay about double or triple the US price of that pint just to be able to drink it at all?

Personally, living near Philadelphia there's no way I'm even driving a bit over 6 hours and 300+ miles to get some of the different award winning beers brewed at the Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh (and we're both in the same state so there'd be no import duties or other premiums tacked onto the cost). That would be true even if the Brew Works were producing the best beers in the state and all I had around here were AALs.

Just think about how often you've enjoyed the pub "crawls" you’ve described for us at various times. What is it that makes those so much fun? I suggest it is the combination of multiple beers you enjoy and the comfortable convenience of proximity.

 

Without craft beer I'd still be drinking mostly German and British imports, like I did before craft beer.

 

Two beers in the fridge routinely - Pilsner Urquel and Weihenstaphaner Kristallweissbier. Lots more whisky drinking as well.

 

Many of those beer styles and others were available in the US before the craft era - some brewed domestically (stout, IPA, porter, bock, brown ale, amber ale, stock ale, cream ale, golden ale, pilsners, light lagers, winter beers, etc.) and others available as imports (Berliner Weisse, milk stout, oyster stout, etc).

The year before Maytag bought into Anchor, this was Neuweiler's of Allentown, PA portfolio:

(Hochberg was a dry-hopped lager and Neuweiler also brewed an IPA).

 

I would be a wine snob instead of a beer snob.

 

I live in what most would still consider a beer wasteland, but even I could find a selection of nearly all the beers you listed back in the mid to late 80s.

 

I'd be on the Bourbon Advocate forum everyday instead of this one

 

Without craft beer I'd be thin and have a lot more money.... But less happy

 

Yes, indeed, but in many ways a big part of the issue is also about how widely available were they?

For example from the Neuweiler list, were any of those available very far away from Allentown?

In the domain of food, Brunswick Stew has been available in the US for at least a century. But I've yet to find a restaurant in this general area where I can order one on a regular basis. (And as for getting a properly made one? Don't hold your breath. ) Similarly grits are a basic food item in some areas of the US, but unless I make them myself I'll not be having them for breakfast. And how many folks are there do you think there maybe in Arizona or Oregon who have scrapple with their breakfast?

 

So out of curiosity, how did you learn you wanted to take the trouble to acquire those beers?

 

@marquis and @jesskidden posted along the lines I was going to post. I get that they are easier to get these days, but the so-called "craft revolution" did not invent any of those beer types nor did it make them available for the first time in the USA. I would guess any reasonable liquor store could have gotten examples of any of them at any time, if only there was the demand. The macro lager near mono-culture was brought about with the full cooperation of the American consumer, not just the evil "Despicable Me's" of St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Golden.

 

Well, the short answer is I went to a local bar (and a beer store) that carried them and then "took the trouble" to order them. Long(er) answer is a combination of things: lived in UK as a kid, so wanted to try Bass, Guinness, Mackeson's milk stout, Murphy's, Newcastle, Sam Smiths (porter, winter warmer, imperial stout); studied German in high school, so wanted to try Maisel's (Hefe- and Kristallweizen), Einbeck (light and dark bock), and Spaten (Helles, Maerzen, Bock, Doppelbock), Kaiserdom (Rauchbier). my interest just grew from there, so I bought Michael Jackson's beer books (world and pocket guides) and watched his Beer Hunter series, which led me to the lambics, wits, saisons, etc. Pretty much all of these were readily available in SC during that period.

 

Yes, but notice that neither the OP nor most of the people taking the trouble to post in this thread claimed that the Craft beer revolution gets credit for the original creation of those importd beer styles.

 

Thanks. And so I think you'd also agree with the idea that you were not the "average" or "typical" beer drinker in that era and already knew there was a bigger world out there than AALs.

Do you by any chance recall approximately when and where you drank your first English style Barleywine?

 

Definitely true, but the OP also implies that without craft beer it would not have been possible to drink, say, a hefeweizen - I think it's fair enough to point out that without too much effort you can get your hands on some with or without the craft beer revolution playing a part...